Ahhh.. a good day!

Today has been good so far. This morning, Zach and I decided to call each other our "life partner" because we think the whole "boyfriend/girlfriend" thing is a little juvenile. So now, whenever I'm talking to someone and I mention my "life partner," they will probably assume that I'm a lesbian. But that's okay.

So I got to work at 7:00, and had a meeting with my boss at 10:00 to discuss some papers I found and also to discuss two papers we were supposed to read and analyze thoroughly. Well, of the two papers we were supposed to read, one was very complex. So I spent about 2 hours trying to understand it, using scrap paper to draw pictures and talking to myself out loud, and still couldn't understand most of it. So when we had our meeting, I told him how far into the paper I made it, and he smiled and said it was okay, and we spent the hour discussing the paper and I actually sounded pretty intelligent and could follow what he was saying (a huge accomplishment for me is following what people are saying... I guess I get bored and drift off at times). Then we talked about the other papers I found (which were about pigs, plants, and people), and had a good conversation. I left our meeting feeling more confident in myself and more secure about my job.

Also, to add to my job satisfaction rate, my coworker Sam approached me this morning. Sam and I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago, where he told me one of our other coworkers thinks I'm a slacker and that I don't always appear to be working when I'm in my office (which is true, I'll admit it). It was a pretty awful conversation; I was bawling the whole time and felt shitty for the rest of the day, but I think it was a well-needed wake-up call. Well, during that conversation Sam suggested that I:

1. Try to find some research projects by reading journals to get ideas,
2. Close my office door when I'm not working, and
   
3. Consider excluding myself from some of the lab activity groups so I have more time to do research and so that people take me more seriously as a researcher.

So after we had that little discussion, I cleaned up my act. I:

1. Read the latest issue of the Forest Products Journal (which I don't think I've ever done and I've been a member for quite some time),
2. Made an effort to close my door while not working, and
3. Dropped out of some of the clubs I'm in.

So anyway, this morning Sam approached me and said he's noticed that I've been making more of an effort to get work done, and that I've been working hard. So it felt nice to get some feedback.

And then, later on, my coworker Bob M. asked me if I'm any good at drawing computer graphics. Well, that happens to be my favorite thing to do! Honestly, if I didn't already have a career I would like to be a graphic artist or whatever the heck those people are called. He basically wants me to draw a portion of a wall that we're working on, and I told him I really enjoy doing that stuff and that I'd like to help him out with it. So I'm really excited to do that for him.

This is one of the drawings I made for a study where we took measurements on an old ship in San Francisco.

So overall it's been a good day. And now it's friday afternoon, it's warm and cloudy outside, and I have some credit hours to burn. So I think I will leave early this afternoon.

Online quizzes, etc.

4/27/06

I had to do the map thing, too. I'll be adding Maryland to my list next month.




My all-time favorite? I'm going to go with Montana or Wyoming. It is so beautiful out there.

Advanced Global Personality Test Results Extraversion |||||||||||||||||| 73% Stability |||||||||||||| 60% Orderliness |||||||||||||||| 63% Accommodation |||||||||||||| 56% Interdependence |||||||||||||||| 70% Intellectual |||||| 23% Mystical |||||||||| 36% Artistic |||||||||||| 50% Religious |||||| 23% Hedonism |||||||||||||| 56% Materialism |||||||||||||| 56% Narcissism |||||||||||||| 56% Adventurousness |||||||||||||||| 63% Work ethic |||||||||||||||||| 76% Self absorbed |||||||||||| 50% Conflict seeking |||||| 30% Need to dominate |||||||||| 36% Romantic |||||||||||||||| 70% Avoidant |||||||||||||||| 63% Anti-authority |||||||||||| 50% Wealth |||||||||||| 50% Dependency |||||||||||| 43% Change averse |||||||||| 36% Cautiousness |||||||||||| 50% Individuality |||||||||| 36% Sexuality |||||||||| 36% Peter pan complex |||||| 23% Physical security |||||||||||||||| 63% Physical Fitness |||||||||||| 50% Histrionic |||||||||||||||| 70% Paranoia |||| 16% Vanity |||||||||||||||| 63% Hypersensitivity |||||||||||||||| 70% Female cliche |||||||||||| 50%

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I need new shoes

Okay, so I'm really tired of hearing my shoes squeak while I'm walking down the hall at work. It's so quiet here that you can hear every little sound, and it's starting to become embarrassing.

The other day I thought about how long I've had these shoes. They're Vasque hiking boots, and I remember my parents sending them to me for my 21st birthday. That was almost four years ago. It's definitely time for a new pair.

I figured that if I don't go to any restaurants for a couple of weeks, I should be able to cough up enough money to buy some new shoes. I really like hiking boots, so I think I will cruise around Madison one of these days and see what I can find.

It's exciting seeing what everyone's doing!

Hey everyone, I just saw Danielle McLeod's message about trying to find a cute dress to wear in Greece, and so I followed the link to her blog to see what the options were. Then I noticed all the other AGDs who were on this blogger thing, so I looked at their postings and now I'm totally inspired! I'd like to get back in touch with my friends and I think this would be a great way to do it.

So after quickly scanning people's blogs, here's what I think I've discovered:

Stephie is getting hitched to some dude named Jay. Congratulations, Stephie!
AJ is having another kid, who, according to Jori, is going to be a boy with blonde hair and brown eyes. Congratulations, AJ!
Kara's having twins. Congraulations, Kara!
Laura had a daughter named Georgia who doesn't mind nursing after Laura's beeing working out. Congratulations, Laura!
Danielle is a cowgirl (I'm so jealous!) living in Colorado and working at a high school. She has tats and piercings.
Jori and Souva are still together (thank god).
Randi moved again.
Cat's baby is refusing to come out. And his name is going to be Bradley.

Anything else?
I can't believe how everyone's lives are changing so quickly.

I guess I could give you an update on me..

I own a house in Evansville, WI, which is a small farming community 25 miles from Madison.
I'm back together with Zach, my freshman/sophomore year lover-boy, and he lives with me. Not sure if he's "the one" yet.
My job is okay .. I'm completely undecided about whether or not I want to do this for my entire life (testing wood at the USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory).
I'm into Slow Foods.. that's where you rely on local produce and meat and try not to eat food from a box. (www.slowfood.com) This is easy in Madison because in the summer there is a farmer's market every day of the week.